Drum levels when bouncing from BFD2 to Pro tools?????

L

Legolas1971

New member
Hi,

This may be a dumb question but I was thinking about it.....

When I create a drum sequence in Pro Tools this is my process:

1. Find a loop I like in BFD and drag/drop into Pro tools.
2. I select the output sends in BFD's mixer and route the kit pieces to the midi channels I have set up in Pro Tools. I actually, mix my drums in BFD and
just send what I've done in that environment to listen to in PT's. The faders
in PT's are set to unity.

NOW, if I want to dump those midi channels to audio I buss them to
audio tracks and record. I get that......BUT, do I keep the levels as
mixed in BFD or do I raise those levels to unity, have them pass
through the midi channels and then on to the audio channels when I
record?

Thanks in advance..........
 
Disclaimer: I don't use BFD, so excuse if I'm missing something-
Considering you're doing everything ITB, as long as you like what you're hearing after recording to audio just roll with it. Why mix twice?
 
Mr. June said:
Disclaimer: I don't use BFD, so excuse if I'm missing something-
Considering you're doing everything ITB, as long as you like what you're hearing after recording to audio just roll with it. Why mix twice?
Click to expand...

Right....I guess I'm just worried that if I keep the levels
where they are (with some faders lower than others) that
my recording levels won't be hot enough once they print
to PT. Also, I do wanna re-mix the audio tracks to
add more compression, eg or whatever else I may want.

Know what I mean?
 
Well, I come from the opposite end of the spectrum - I'm running BFD2 but not into PT, I run Sonar X1 and I do absolutely NO mixing inside BFD.

I route each kit piece via the BFD mixer to it's own AUDIO track in Sonar and mix totally within Sonar.

I find that BFD's levels are too hot and usually lower all the faders in the BFD mixer by about 10dB
 
Jonesey9 said:
Well, I come from the opposite end of the spectrum - I'm running BFD2 but not into PT, I run Sonar X1 and I do absolutely NO mixing inside BFD.

I route each kit piece via the BFD mixer to it's own AUDIO track in Sonar and mix totally within Sonar.

I find that BFD's levels are too hot and usually lower all the faders in the BFD mixer by about 10dB
Click to expand...

Totally......BFD's levels are very hot. I'm just wondering if I should be placing all the
faders in the mixer back to unity (pull the master down to stop clipping) then have
the audio pass through PT's (midi tracks) then buss to corresponding audio tracks?
 
I'm not quite following you.

How can Audio(!) pass through a Midi track? Unless PT has a different naming protocol, you can't run Audio through a Midi track, at least not in Sonar.
 
Jonesey9 said:
I'm not quite following you.

How can Audio(!) pass through a Midi track? Unless PT has a different naming protocol, you can't run Audio through a Midi track, at least not in Sonar.
Click to expand...

Hi,

My error....BFD is just midi samples of real recorded drums. So, i choose the sequence I want
drop it into PT on an Instrument track, edit it and then assign them from BFD to separate
midi tracks in PT's......

Then once my song is completely done I buss the sounds to Audio tracks and print them
as audio. Now, I can process them using various effects as audio.

Am I making sense now?
 
Legolas1971 said:
Hi,

My error....BFD is just midi samples of real recorded drums. So, i choose the sequence I want
drop it into PT on an Instrument track, edit it and then assign them from BFD to separate
midi tracks in PT's......

Then once my song is completely done I buss the sounds to Audio tracks and print them
as audio. Now, I can process them using various effects as audio.

Am I making sense now?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're creating a few extra steps for yourself here. Just assign each kit piece in the BFD mix window to a mono out (located at the bottom of each fader in BFD2). Then, in Protools, create a bunch of mono audio tracks (1 for each kit piece you want to record) and assign the IN on those to the "plugin mono input" that corresponds with the output you just assigned in BFD (ex - "kick out" going to Mono1 in BFD would be "plugin input m1" in Pro Tools).

Make sure you have the grooves queued up in BFD in the "drum tracks" window (where your grooves are dragged to after you find the ones you like). I usually program the entire song first, from inside BFD. Just click and drag the grooves you like in the correct order in the grooves window.

Then record enable each of your newly created drum tracks in PT. Make sure you have "Drum track" checked in BFD next to your grooves. Then press record in PT. Voila. 14 drum tracks recording simultaneously to audio tracks. Add your effects and mix.

Note: Yes - BFD levels are really hot. You'll probably want to drop each track 5-10 db (especially the kick) in the BFD mix window before you record. A test run will help you determine which tracks are peaking in PT.

Hope that helps.
 
Friggindrummer said:
Sounds like you're creating a few extra steps for yourself here. Just assign each kit piece in the BFD mix window to a mono out (located at the bottom of each fader in BFD2). Then, in Protools, create a bunch of mono audio tracks (1 for each kit piece you want to record) and assign the IN on those to the "plugin mono input" that corresponds with the output you just assigned in BFD (ex - "kick out" going to Mono1 in BFD would be "plugin input m1" in Pro Tools).

Make sure you have the grooves queued up in BFD in the "drum tracks" window (where your grooves are dragged to after you find the ones you like). I usually program the entire song first, from inside BFD. Just click and drag the grooves you like in the correct order in the grooves window.

Then record enable each of your newly created drum tracks in PT. Make sure you have "Drum track" checked in BFD next to your grooves. Then press record in PT. Voila. 14 drum tracks recording simultaneously to audio tracks. Add your effects and mix.

Note: Yes - BFD levels are really hot. You'll probably want to drop each track 5-10 db (especially the kick) in the BFD mix window before you record. A test run will help you determine which tracks are peaking in PT.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Hi.....That is a good tip thank you. My problem is that I find it hard
to commit to a drum sequence quickly. So, that's why I drag the
midi over to Pt's on an instrument track and then edit from there.
Also, in the process of writing/producing a song my drum sequence
will change a lot; so immediately dropping a sequence from BFD to
PT's is a bit scary for me. Does that makes sense?
 
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